Inui's Failure
by Cheeseburger of Doom
Summary: Inui reflects on a few things, in the dark. There are some things that even Inui will never comprehend.


A/N: What kind of fic is this? I don't really know. It popped into my head for no apparent reason, and it just wouldn't go away. So I wrote it.

Anyway, Inui is pretty OOC -- but I can see this side of him, so I thought if I wrote it, someone else might be able to see this side of him, as well. Please don't let this fic put you off my writing!! 

****

Inui's Failure

It was a quiet evening. The sun had just gone down, and the stars were beginning to appear in the night sky. The silent figure who was gazing up at those stars sighed once, picked up bag, then sighed again. 

Today he'd lost to Tezuka -- of course. There was absolutely no way Inui could have beaten Tezuka, no matter how long he'd spent Tezuka watching out on the courts during all sorts of games, no matter how much data he'd collected, no matter how much time he'd spent on this one goal -- he could not beat Tezuka Kunimitsu, because Tezuka was just that good. 

Inui was a very gifted player, no one could deny that. His combination of data and skill were exceptional. That still wasn't enough to win against Tezuka.

Winning had become an obsession with Inui. He wanted to win, to prove something. To Tezuka, and maybe to himself, as well. Prove that he could be better. Prove that he could do what he said he was going to do. Prove that he understood Tezuka Kunimitsu better than anyone else.

"Inui."

Inui turned at the familiar voice behind him. He'd thought he was alone here. After all, practice had ended hours ago.

"How long have you been here?" Tezuka asked.

"Five hours and twenty-six minutes," Inui replied. "How long have you been standing there?"

"A while." There was silence.

"I said I would beat you, and I will," Inui said.

Tezuka made no reply. Inui looked up at the sky once more. So many stars. When he was little, he'd tried to count the stars, and record it in his notebook. He'd tried every night, but there had been so many -- and every night their number seemed to change. It had frustrated him no end. That had been the beginning of his obsession with data -- just after he'd learned to count, at three years old.

Tezuka was like those stars, ever-changing, always full of surprises. Tezuka was the human embodiment of Inui's frustration. He was Inui's personal challenge. He was...

"I used to try and count the stars," Inui said, deciding to share his memory, mostly so that he could end the extended silence. Tezuka was not the talkative type. Neither was he, for that matter, but he spoke a hell of a lot more than Tezuka ever did. "Then I gave up, after I realized it was impossible."

Impossible. As he'd gotten older, Inui had found less and less things impossible. Now, there was one more thing he was having trouble with, and that impossible thing stood a few feet away from him, looking up at the very same sky that he was looking up at.

"After that, I wanted to understand everything."

Why was Inui bearing his soul to Tezuka? Maybe it was just because Tezuka was standing there, silently. Maybe it was because he thought Tezuka would understand. Tezuka understood a lot of things. That was one thing that Inui knew well about Tezuka.

"No one can understand everything," Tezuka said, his eyes meeting Inui's. Inui saw something wise in those eyes, something that of all the people he'd met and come to know and understand, only Tezuka possessed. Something that kept Inui up at night, thinking, sometimes. 

What was it about Tezuka Kunimitsu that he found so fascinating? Everything.

"Hn," Inui said. He settled the bag he was holding on his shoulder. It was really time to be heading home.

"Why did you stay out here so late?" Tezuka asked.

"Reviewing my data, and thinking of ways to beat you," Inui replied. "I will, one day."

Tezuka smiled, one of his rare smiles, that made Inui's heart skip a beat. Inui realized just what it was that made him obsess over Tezuka. Emotions he would much rather ignore, but emotions that persisted without fail. Emotions that Inui was uncertain how to deal with.

Everyone loved Tezuka. That was what he'd discovered. Everyone he knew, in some way or another, loved Tezuka, for their own reasons. Tezuka was just that kind of person -- the kind that people looked up to, respected, obsessed over...Even Tezuka's rivals respected him, and obsessed over him. He had a presence that could not be ignored. 

Even though Tezuka appeared cool and detached on the surface, it was fairly obvious to most people how much he cared about his team. That was just another one of the traits that made people adore him, worship him, obsess over him...

"You should be getting home," Tezuka said.

Then, Tezuka walked away.

Inui wondered how long Tezuka had been watching him. Inui hadn't noticed his presence until he spoke, so it was possible he'd been there all along. If that was the case, though, why hadn't Tezuka spoken up earlier? Tezuka was full of surprises. He was a mystery, even to Inui.

Maybe Tezuka understood what Inui's real problem was. Maybe he didn't. There was a fifty-fifty chance in this situation. Inui could not really rely on his data on Tezuka, because Tezuka was full of surprises.

"I will beat you one day," Inui repeated, to Tezuka's retreating back. He fit into the category of those who obsessed over Tezuka, and his obsession was far from over.

__

If I beat you, then maybe one day, I will get over you...since there is a zero percent chance that you will ever be mine.

Inui had to laugh at himself, and the hopeless situation he'd gotten himself into. He began his trek home, under the stars that he would never be able to count. The stars that were the unearthly embodiment of Inui's failure.

~~~~~

A/N: I hope everyone liked my history of Inui's data-obsession. Chibi-Inui trying to count the stars is such a cute thought! ^_^ I think that was the real reason I wanted to post this -- to share the joy of little Inui.


End file.
